WASHINGTON, DC: Health IT Now – a broad-based coalition of patient groups, provider organizations, employers, and payers supporting health information technology to improve patient outcomes – will hold a Congressional briefing on Tuesday, November 28th at noon entitled Time for Telehealth: Harnessing the Power of Health IT to Bring Medicare into the 21st Century.

WASHINGTON, DC (September 13, 2017): Health IT Now – a broad-based coalition of patient groups, provider organizations, employers, and payers supporting health information technology to improve patient outcomes – wrote to the sponsors of H.R. 3727, the Increasing Telehealth Access in Medicare Act today to express the coalition’s strong support for the measure.

Health IT Now Executive Director Joel White today issued the following statement in strong support of the Veterans E-Health & Telemedicine Support (VETS) Act. The bill has been introduced in the House by Reps. Glenn Thompson and Julia Brownley and in the Senate by Senators Mazie Hirono and Joni Ernst. HITN sent a letter to Reps. Thompson and Brownley and well as Senators Hirono and Ernst supporting their efforts, noting the success of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) use of telehealth.

Health IT Now Executive Director Robert Horne today issued the following statement on the Senate’s passage of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, particularly the inclusion of important telehealth policies.

On July 14, the House Appropriations Committee approved the Labor, Health & Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) funding bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. A number of health IT provisions were included, of which HITN created a summary.

On Monday, June 20, 2016, Health IT Now sent a letter of support for Section 705 of the Senate National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (S. 2943) and urged Congress to include this provision in the final bill. Section 705 would enhance the use of telehealth in the military health system. Click here to read the full letter.

On December 14, 2015, Health IT Now sent a letter to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing endorsing the Nurse Licensure Compact. Health IT Now believes that this compact should serve as an example for interstate licensure compacts and specifically support reciprocity principles included in the compact. Click hereto read the full endorsement letter.

The Health IT Now Coalition submitted comments on the draft legislation entitled Advancing Telehealth Opportunities in Medicare. HITN applauds the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s efforts to remove current Medicare barriers to beneficiaries receiving telehealth services. While we appreciate these efforts and believe the draft bill is a good first step, we are convinced there is much more Congress can and should do to address restrictions to telehealth services. Read the full letter here.

On December 14, 2015, Health IT Now sent a letter to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing endorsing the Nurse Licensure Compact. Health IT Now believes that this compact should serve as an example for interstate licensure compacts and specifically support reciprocity principles included in the compact. Click hereto read the full endorsement letter.